The ice tapper in two lines
This is the bar top ice tapper: you take the cube, break it and use it. A hand tool made to sit in the station through service.
Who it is for
For anyone who needs smaller ice and does not want to get out the mallet and the bag. It is the answer for the single drink, not for batch preparation.
Why broken ice chills sooner
Because it has more surface in contact with the liquid. A whole cube exchanges heat through six faces; the same cube broken in three also exposes the fracture surfaces, which are rough and therefore more effective again. The drink reaches temperature in less time, and that matters in two precise cases: when a cocktail has to be cold straight away and cannot wait, and when the glass is small and a whole cube would take all the room.
Specifications
- Use: breaking cubes by hand, on the bar
- Power: none, it is a hand tool
- When: during service, drink by drink
The trade: dilution arrives sooner
It has to be said, because it follows from the same principle. More surface means chilling fast and melting fast, so broken ice is the right choice for a drink finished in a few minutes and the wrong one for a drink to be sipped. On a neat spirit or an Old Fashioned you go the other way, with one piece as large as it will go.
When it beats the mallet
When you need a little ice and you need it now. The mallet and the bag are the preparation answer: everything comes out, you crush for the shift, everything goes away. The ice tapper is the service answer: it stays on the bar, it works one drink and it goes back down. They are two tools that complement each other, and venues making a lot of juleps and tiki usually have both.
The small glass, and the commonest case
It happens with tasting glasses, with small coupes and with drinks served in minor glassware: a whole cube barely fits, touches the walls and leaves very little room for the liquid, so the drink comes out short and warms quickly because there is so little of it. With the ice tapper you get two pieces that fill the available space better, and the ratio of liquid to ice comes back to where it should be.
The difference between broken and crushed
They are two different materials and they do not swap. Broken ice is two or three large pieces taken from one cube: it chills fast but stays recognisable in the glass. Crushed is fine irregular material that fills the glass and is consumed along with the drink, and it only comes from the mallet in the bag. Anyone using crushed where broken belongs has a watered drink in five minutes.
Care
Rinse after use and dry, as with any tool touching ice bound for a glass. Keep the pivot points clean, since that is where water sits, and put it away dry so the limescale marks are not waiting the following evening.
FAQ
Does the ice tapper need power? No, it is entirely a hand tool.
Can it be used during service? Yes, it is made to stay on the bar and work drink by drink.
Does it make crushed ice? No, it makes broken ice: crushed needs the mallet and the bag.
Does the drink water down more? Yes, broken ice chills sooner and melts sooner: use it on drinks that get finished quickly.
How is it cleaned? Rinse and dry, with attention to the pivot points.
The more you buy, the less you pay: 4 pieces -5%, 6 -7%, 8 -10%, on the same item.
Dispatched from Rome, Italy. 15-day returns, free of charge. Questions before you order? Message us on WhatsApp on +39 351 929 6937.
The other tools for working ice are in the ice accessories category.
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